Lying has permeated every area of life.
Facebook and other social media platforms have fact checking to flag posts they feel are not truthful.
The government recently tried to create a Disinformation Governance Board (it didn’t go over well).
A few years back we started hearing claims by politicians and celebrities of fake news when stories broke they didn’t like either because they were untrue or unflattering.
It should be obvious but I will say it anyway.
The reason we hate lying is because everything in us knows lies are used to manipulate. Lies hurt relationships because they break trust. We pull away from lies like spoiled milk.
No matter what you think about the media, politicians, or the government they aren’t your biggest problem. There is one person who lies to you more than any other. You.
You are the biggest liar you know!
We lie to ourselves all the time, about everything. Let me give you a non-controversial example. When I go to the grocery store and actually have someone run the register for me I enter a danger zone!
I see the magazine with Chris Hemsworth (who plays Thor) in great shape and it reminds me of my own commitment to get in shape. It is right next to the fridge with the ice cold Dr. Pepper. Which is next to the rack with the 3 Musketeers bars.
I decided to not drink soda for a while because I am getting in shape….just like Thor. However, I am also hungry and thirsty. So while I read the article about Hemsworth and his workouts, I go ahead and pick up, open and start drinking the Dr Pepper telling myself this is a good decision because I am not eating a candy bar.
See what I mean. I am good at lying to me and you are good at lying to you.
While one Dr. Pepper in the grand scheme of things isn’t all that impactful we also lie about important things.
Maybe the worst lie we tell ourselves is I am not enough. I am not good enough, smart enough, attractive enough.
I am not a good enough parent, I am not a good enough husband, I am not a good enough boss.
It is a combination of imposter syndrome, believing that sooner or later people will realize I don’t know what I am doing. Mixed with a little unhealthy comparison, she is a better mom, he seems to get along with his kids better than I do and…..viola I am not enough.
Remember why we don’t like lies, they manipulate and they break trust. You see where this is going.
Your inner voice manipulates you and while you can’t distance yourself from yourself (that’s confusing) you can start trusting yourself less. I am sure there is some physiological description of this, but let’s just call it unhealthy.
The real trap here is you can’t just log off, quit watching or remove you from your feed. It is actually a desperate situation.
You need something from the outside to confront the lie and establish the truth. Something that will not manipulate you and will build trust instead of destroying trust.
Here is an important truth. If you are a follower of Jesus you are a new creation in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).
But what about my not enough? You are a new creation! But what about the other moms? You are a new creation! But what about…you get the idea. Keep going back to the truth.
Every time the lie comes to the surface you need to counter it with the truth about what God says and who God says you are.
You will keep lying to yourself. The best defense is to make the decision to get God’s truth from the Bible in your heart and head to counter the lies.
For more check out a recent message on this called Understaning My Identity.
The exciting part happens next. It is so powerful when truth replaces lies. Like the magic of compounding interest that grows both on the principle and interest over time, the truth picks up impressive gains.
When you keep stacking up truth from the Bible in your heart and head, it starts to shape how you think and the choices you make.
With every decision we make to complain, criticize, play the victim, focus on the negative, we become more and more the kind of person who is by nature negative, grouchy, unhappy, and unpleasant to be around, until eventually we lose the very capacity to live happily, gratefully, and full of wonder at our lives in God’s good world. Because we have believed the lies.
But the reciprocal is true as well. The daily decision to rejoice—to cultivate a way of seeing our lives in God’s good world, not through the lens of our phones, news apps, or flesh, but through gratitude, celebration, and unhurried delight—will over time form us into joyful, thankful people who deeply enjoy life with God and others. What starts as an act of the will eventually turns into our inner nature. What begins with a choice eventually becomes a character. Because we have countered the lies with truth.
I wish there was an easy way to turn off lie to myself button. If there is I haven’t found it.
I have found that if I keep going back to what God says and what God says about me, the lies start to lose their power.
Here is a hlepful way to start.
What lie do you tell yourself that are you most tempted to believe? The one that has hurt you, frustrated you, and drug you back time after time? Identify it, name it.
Now that you know what it is, what does God say about that? Not sure? Then start searching the Bible, google Bible verses, talk to your Community Group leader, check with a pastor, keep going until you know what the truth is about the lie you have been believing.
Memorize that verse and then repeat it to yourself every time the lie pops up. You will be surprised how the once powerful lie seems to lose its power!
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